Antonio Conte has praised Steven Bergwijn and he was encouraged by the “desire” that Tottenham showed during their victory over Leicester City.
Spurs performed well against Leicester in midweek. Despite this, they were heading for defeat as they trailed 2-1 after 90 minutes.
Bergwijn was brought on in the 79th minute and he scored two goals deep into stoppage time to turn the game around.
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The Dutchman has been linked with a move away from Tottenham in recent weeks.
His winning goals move Spurs up to fifth in the Premier League. If they make the most of their games in hand, they will move into the top four.
As quoted by BBC Sport, Conte said post-match that Bergwijn is “important” as he has “special characteristics”:
“A great win. I honestly think we didn’t deserve to lose the game. A draw for me was unfair.
“I think we played a good game, created many chances to score and were unlucky. But my team showed they don’t want to give up and until the end, we have to fight.
“We showed great desire not to lose this game. This is a compliment for my players and team, not for me.”
On Bergwijn: “I have spoken about Steve in the past. For me, he is an important player with special characteristics. No one else in the team has these characteristics.
“He is good technically, he beats the man, he is a striker and in good physical condition. It is an important choice for me – I can put him in the starting eleven or bring him on in the game.
“We have to learn to control the game and understand the different moments of the game.
“Under this aspect, we can improve. There are different key moments during the game and we have to understand these better.
“How to play with more velocity and to move the ball quickly or keep the ball and lower the intensity. We can improve and have to improve a lot but it’s a long path. We have just started with these players and this team.
“They show great ability and desire to improve. I know we have a lot of space for improvement.”
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